Why ROY director Vikramjit Singh backed out of Farhan Akhtar's film?

February 14, 2015 12:27:20 PM ISTBy Rachana Sheth, Glamsham Editorial

Debutant Vikramjit Singh, who has directed the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Jacqueline Fernandez in his very first film ROY, surprisingly never really assisted anyone before. Although he tried his bit to assist Farhan Akhtar on LAKSHYA, Vikramjit backed out immediately.

VIKRAMJIT SINGH AND FARHAN AKHTAR

Vikramjit said, “I learned everything while watching movies. I always knew what I wanted to do. I have done a lot of technical training by myself. When I say technical training, it's like reading books and writing your own stuff. I even attended three months' workshop in New York film academy. Then, I joined Farhan Akhtar as an assistant where I worked on LAKSHYA. But, I walked up to Farhan and said ‘Man I can't do this'. Somewhere, I believe the process of becoming an assistant director didn't help me. I think you can learn the craft simply by observing someone else. It's not a rocket science. And if you know the kind of movies you want to make, you don't even need to go through somebody else's craft.”

When asked Vikramjit how he learnt the art, he revealed, “For me figuring out how to direct a movie was also dictated by what I wrote, so once I started writing I got involved into it. ROY was my seventh or eighth script that I wrote. Finally I locked upon it. When you love something honestly that just happens.”

According to Vikramjit, being an AD only teaches you to become a producer than a good director.

''In this business, instinct is more valuable than any other technical training that you can do. It may not work for other people but for me it works very well. I cannot spend two years of my life being an assistant. I have seen assistants doing nothing. I even ask them what you are learning at the end of the day? Being an AD only teaches you how to become a producer but it doesn't teach you to be a good director,'' opined the director on a parting note.